


Beyond The Shattered Nebula

by StormingOverSeas



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Almost Dark Lance (Voltron) at Times, Angst, BAMF Lance (Voltron), Eldritch, Hurt No Comfort, Injured Lance (Voltron), Kinda, Lance (Voltron) Has Self-Esteem Issues, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) is lost, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Lance has a Really Deep Connection with Blue, M/M, Pain, Parental Blue Lion (Voltron), Probably Since he's Mostly Alone with just her in Space for a Long Time, Sentient Voltron Lions, Sniper Lance (Voltron), Worried Everyone Really, Worried Keith (Voltron), he makes hard decisions, or at least very late comfort, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:08:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22097653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StormingOverSeas/pseuds/StormingOverSeas
Summary: Fractured Space, impossible, a fairy tale, and yet, supposedly inescapable.Which is why—when a druid manages to trap him and Blue there—they have to find a way to make the impossible, possible.Lance was alone, trapped all alone in the middle of Space with only his Lion for company. Usually, he would ask, 'why me?' but at this point? He was almost expecting something bad like that to happen...
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 95





	1. Prologue

**L** ance wasn’t prepared for this fight, four druids versus a Paladin—whoever would win?

Comms were staticy, they had some sort of signal blocker up, which Pidge was busy disabling with Hunk. Shiro was on the North end of the ship with Keith freeing prisoners, and he couldn’t even manage contact with the Castle. He was truly and utterly fucked.

“Little Blue Paladin, far from his teammates. No one to rescue him—whatever will he do now?” It was Haggar, eyes cruel and gleaming an iridescent yellow beneath the swirling shadows of her ragged hood. “The weakest of Voltron, how convenient we should meet here, now, when my weapon has just been prepared for testing.” Lance fought the urge to take a step back, leveling his blaster at her, face hard beneath his visor. There was no way he was going to make it out of this alive, they’d cornered him, isolated him. The only way out was through the door they were blocking, and the druids behind Haggar already had their hands glowing black with dark, shadowy magic, which swirled and ebbed in a way that reminded Lance of the deepest depths of the ocean, the crevices and drops he never dared explore as a kid. There had always been this sense of… wrongness in them, they’d felt unsafe, sent the hair on the back of his neck prickling, and the survival instincts in his mind telling him to move-MOVE-GET AWAY!

He ducked aside just in time to avoid a blast of that magic, clenching his jaw as he fired off two shots, each would have hit their mark, had a shimmering field of purple not appeared between them. _Between him and the door_. Lance cursed quietly under his breath, taking a step back. He was well and truly trapped now—and that shadow magic had straight up burnt a simmering hole into the thick steel of the ship, like fricking acid. “Keith, Pidge?” He practically whispered into the empty static of the comms. _He knew they couldn’t hear him._

“They can’t hear you, Little Blue,” Haggar laughed, guttural and croaky (like the frog she was), and tilted her head. The smirk she sent him was unnerving, and he wished he could wipe it off her face with his bayard, but the cowardice bitch was hiding behind a force-field. “Besides—even if they could, do you really think they would come? Why would they bother saving a burden such as you? Surely there are more… suitable Blue Paladins out there…” Lance’s hard expression wavered, his resolve crumbled at the bases.

“Shut up, Haggar.” He spat. It was all he could bring himself to say.

“I wouldn’t. If I were that Black Paladin I would take every chance I had to get rid of you. You’re weak, pathetic—you can’t even work that bayard of yours properly. Any of the others would have gotten out of this room ages ago.” He tried to force the thoughts away, the self doubt creeping in and swirling around him like starved sharks, tried to focus on his link with Blue instead. She was warm, calming, sending waves of reassurance at him as best as she could. “They wish you were gone, you know. They’d rather you were dead so they can find themselves someone who could actually serve properly as the Blue Paladin. You. Are. Weak.”

The next thirty ticks happened so fast Lance barely had any idea what even occurred. A scream, it rang through his mental link with Blue. He’d never heard her speak before, no one had ever heard their lions speak before, but at that moment, Blue talked to him.

“Cub, the button!” The image of the airlock button next to him.

He pressed it.

A wave of shadows washed over him.

Blue caught him.

The magic caught them.

...Everything went dark…

“Alright! The comms are back in business, baby!” Pidge whooped over the radio waves. Hunk was audible next to her, and Keith could hear Shiro’s sigh of relief at the sound of their communication returning.

“Great work you two,” he agreed, turning to Keith. “We’re finished here, so we’re gonna start heading back to the lions now. We’ll meet up back there.” Keith nodded, lifting his bayard and turning to take off, leading the way back through the mess of hallways they’d found themselves in.

“Copy that!” Everyone could hear Hunk’s grin, and the sounds of breath were all that came over the link for the next few minutes.

Until they got to the lions, that is.

Keith skidded to a stop, brow furrowing, “Shiro-”

“Lance? Come in,” he was already speaking, glancing around nervously. His tone was filled with concern, and his grey eyes were wide. Keith stilled, as if it would help him hear better. There was no response. “Lance! Come in! Where are you?” Nothing but the crackling static of a silent intercom.

“Lance!” “Lance, where are you?” Silence.

The Blue Lion was gone—and so was Lance...


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team deals with Lance being missing, and Lance tries to figure out where he is and how to get home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, I get a little mean in this one with the cliffhanger, but I don't end it on one, so it could be worse.

**K** eith was frantic. No one had slept in days, not since Lance had gone missing. They’d searched that entire ship top-to-bottom— _twice._ Nobody had found any sign of him in or round it, no matter how much they looked.

Pidge was running every tracker and scanner they had, coming up with absolutely fucking nothing at all. Hunk was helping her when he could, helping Shiro run search parties when he couldn’t. Keith was training, or searching with the Coalition teams Allura had arranged. Coran was… well, Coran was doing Coran things, all the while looking sadder than anyone had ever seen him. 

They were lost.

The halls felt silent… empty without Lance, but there was nothing to be done. They were vulnerable without Voltron, which just set everyone else on edge on top of the depressive haze they had going on in Lance’s absence.

God… Lance was just… _gone._

Pidge had discovered soon after that Druid’s had been there—fucking _Haggar_ had been there. No one wanted to consider the possibility that Lance was dead, but Keith couldn’t help but worry. What if Haggar had found him, realized he was alone and just… killed him. No Voltron, less threat. It made sense—it’s what he would have done.

The only hope he held was the fact that Blue was gone. If Haggar had taken her she would have taken the rest of the lions as well. Besides, they all had their particle barriers up, the only thing getting through that would be another lion, and even then it was a slim chance.

Where had Blue gone? She couldn’t have just vanished, she had to be with Lance somehow, but where were they?

Keith sighed, activating his bayard, already staring down the gladiator bot. Training was the only thing he could do right now, he needed to be ready to take back Lance if Haggar had him, and he couldn’t do that without training.

He would kill them. He would kill them all if that’s what it took. **  
**

Pidge sighed, staring down at the mess of her desk, littered with the Space equivalent of coffee cups and papers. She couldn’t find _anything,_ there was no sign of Lance anywhere, it’s like he’d just… _vanished…_

She fought to keep her tears at bay as best she could. Lance had been like a big brother to her, and now he was gone. Just like the rest of her family. Was everyone she loved just doomed? Was she cursed?

“Pidge?” A soft knock at the door. She wiped the tears from her eyes, sniffling slightly and clearing her throat.

“Hey, Hunk,” she smiled slightly at his soft expression. “I still haven’t found anything yet. I don’t think there’s anything you can really do right now.”

He ignored the subtle dismissal and pulled up a chair next to her.

“Are you okay?” He asked, in that soft tone of voice that always broke her, too.

“Lance is the one missing,” she shrugged, “I’m alright.”

Hunk sighed. “Pidge, just because Lance is the one in trouble, doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to be upset too. _I_ am, I miss my best friend, and I’m scared. I’m scared that he’s hurt, and alone, and I’m scared that the Galra have him.”

She sniffled, screwing her eyelids shut for a moment, before nodding. “Yeah, me too. Why did it have to be Lance? Why couldn’t I have gone missing instead? Everything feels so… empty without him.”

Hunk tugged her in for a hug. He was warm, and smelled slightly of the oil they used around the ship and on the lions. She couldn’t hold them back anymore, couldn’t keep from crying as the tears began to flow like waterfalls. Uncontrollable.

“I miss Lance.”

“Me too, Pidge,” Hunk agreed softly. “Me too.”

“I don’t know what to do anymore.” Shiro sighed, looking up at the Black lion with an open expression, allowing the soft waves of calm to rush over him. “Lance and Blue are missing, the team is in shambles, and Zarkon could attack any day. We’re vulnerable right now, and there’s nothing we can do. I want Lance back, I really do, but even if…”

He felt guilty for even thinking about it. How could he? Lance was his teammate, his friend, his responsibility. 

He could feel Black’s anger at him for that one, and to be honest, he was pissed with himself as well.

“No,” he agreed, “you’re right. Lance is just as important as Blue—I don’t know what I’m thinking. I’m exhausted, Black, I don’t know what to do. What if Lance is dead? What if he’s not, and he’s out there, hurt and alone?” Shiro ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

Allura was in some sort of diplomatic meeting, trying to secure more allies and get some of the Coalition to help look for Lance. Hunk and Pidge were searching for Lance, and Keith was killing himself training until exhaustion. It was a cycle, a never-ending cycle of them doing the same things over and over again, praying for a different outcome.

“Come on, Black, let’s go search the area Lance was last seen again.” **  
**

“-Wait, if you only sent a handful of men, I’m sure-” It was too late, they were already gone. Few had been told about Lance’s status as missing, and even fewer had agreed to help. She wished she could just send out some sort of message to the entire Galaxy and beyond to be on high alert, looking for her Paladin and the Blue lion, but that would spread panic.

She settled down in her chair, dejected.

Coran laid a warm hand on her shoulder, and it was a comforting reminder that he was there for her. He always had been, and always would be. He loved Lance like a son, but he also understood her feelings. Thinking like a Princess in the middle of a war was tough, but it needed to be done. She couldn’t approach this from an emotional angle. Lance was not as important to the cause as the Blue Lion was, as much as it pained her to admit.

“We must reduce the search parties looking for Lance,” Allura murmured, barely above a whisper, “and increase the patrols with tech to scan for the Blue Lion instead.” Coran sucked in a sharp breath at that, but said nothing in defiance.

“Yes, Princess.”

 ******  
**

“You want to what?” Keith was pissed. No, he was beyond pissed, he was fucking boiling, and if Shiro didn’t have a hand on his shoulder he gladly would have shown Allura how sharp his bayard could be. He would have loved to prove his and Red’s anger at the situation.

She shot him a look, repeating her earlier words with such conviction it drove a knife through Keith’s ribs. “I have decided that we are to reduce the number of search parties looking for Lance, and increase that of those looking for the Blue Lion. Zarkon could attack any day now, and we are vulnerable.”

Shiro was holding Keith back, and unfortunately, Hunk had enough foresight to grab Pidge at that announcement, because she was just as mad as Keith was.

“No!” She spat, struggling to rush Allura despite the strong arms around her. “How dare you! Lance is just as important as any of the fucking Lions! We _need_ him, but we don’t need you! Let! Me! _Go_!”

Keith whirled around, curling his hands into fists, and stormed from the room before he got the bright idea to try and punch Shiro, too. He didn’t know where he was going, didn’t care either. His vision was tinted red, and he swore his nails were probably drawing blood despite how blunt they were.

No one came after him, which was probably good considering the sizeable dent he’d put in the wall with his fist before even realizing he’d done it.

Now he really was bleeding, the skin on his knuckles bruised and split from punching straight steel. Not exactly the best idea he’d ever had, but it calmed him down enough to actually make him pay attention to what was going on around him.

Nothing. Fucking nothing; 

Because all the halls felt fucking emptier than the desert used to without Lance.

Stop looking for Lance. They were going to stop looking for Lance. 

Well fuck Allura, she may have been a Princess but her entire race was fucking dead, her fucking perfect crown meant nothing. She liked to pretend she had so much power as the Altean Princess of a planet long dead and people even longer dead. She was nothing, and she couldn't control him.

Red roared her agreement when he made it to her hangar, and together they took off. Allura could stop the search parties, but she couldn’t stop Keith from searching himself.

He would find Lance, then Allura could go fuck herself.

Lance groaned, moving his hand to his head, which ached and throbbed like it’d been split with a railroad spike. He slid his eyes open—just a splinter, only enough that he could see where he was and what was going on around him. What had happened?

He was in Blue’s cockpit, that much was obvious, even from what little he could see. The lights were on, and she was purring, so she was active. His girl hadn’t been taken out or something. He groaned louder, still clutching his head (which he could already feel was warm and sticky with blood, so that was great) and shifted so he could push himself into a sitting position. Lance clung to his pilot's chair to keep him up, glancing around.

Things were returning in flashes—Haggar and the druids, the mission, and…

“Girl, you _spoke.”_ His voice echoed weirdly in the silence of the cockpit, as her purrs were only audible in his mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much. _Hah, suck it, Keith, my lion_ talked _!_ He couldn’t help but think, smiling slightly.

Unfortunately, she had nothing to say to that, but Lance didn’t blame her. That was the first time anyone had ever heard one of the Lions talk, which meant it had to be for a good reason. They probably couldn’t talk unless their Paladins were in major danger or something, because right before Blue had talked, the druids were about to blast him with that crazy magic.

Wait. That crazy magic…

It had hit Blue! Oh Dios, some of that magic had hit Blue!

Lance was up in a flash, only stalled when his vision went white at the sudden movement. He gasped sharply, clinging to the back of his chair to keep him standing, eyes screwed shut at the wave of pain.

Dios, he probably had a concussion or something.

To keep himself from toppling over, he collapsed into the chair, scanning his girl's control panel to look for any signs of trouble. “Hey Sweetheart, you okay? Did that magic do something to you?” The soothing rumble faltered and came to a halt, then a nearby monitor flicked on.

It was a map of the nearby area, and there was… _nothing._

Emptiness on all sides…

Mierda, what had Haggar done…

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto,” he murmured under his breath. His fingers clicked over the keyboard as fast as he could manage, creating a cacophony of noise that sounded suspiciously familiar to Pidge’s room at pretty much all hours of the day. He thanked all he had for being a fast typer, because it had saved his ass many times. He pulled up a larger scale of the map.

Still nothing…

“Blue… where are we…?” He whispered into the silence of Space.

There was no response.

It took him a little bit to get his panic under control, but once he did Lance set to work. First, he bandaged his head and scanned himself to make sure he didn’t have a concussion (he didn’t, thankfully), then he checked the food and water reserves. He had enough to last him a month without a stop for supplies, not the best but hopefully, it would be enough and he could find a safe planet soon.

Finally, he checked that his suit was in decent enough condition, tied himself to Blue, and headed out into Space to check that his girl was okay.

Lance had forgotten how cold open Space was, even with the heaters in his suit. It was all-consuming, pressing in on him in a light pressure from all sides, squeezing and pulling in odd directions. The chill leached into his very being, it crawled along his spine and spread through him until there wasn’t an ounce of warmth left. He shuddered, clinging to the edges of Blue and pulled himself around to her front, running his hand over her to search for damage.

She was a little banged up, dented and that, but she was still going strong, and she could wait until they found a planet before she needed any repairs, so he wouldn’t need to perform any in the literal vacuum that was Space, for which he was grateful.

“My, you are far from home, young one.”

Lance definitely did not scream, nor did he flinch and jerk away from the source of the presence behind him, eyes wide. He did, however, draw his bayard and aim it at the potential threat.

She… it… they? Were beautiful at the very least, glowing a bright, ethereal blue that stood out easily against the empty blackness of Space. They were wispy, like tendrils of light instead of an actual physical being. The light illuminated everything about them, and Lance had to blink to adjust to the light.

“Who are you?” He asked, voice sort of awed, praying they weren’t malevolent. 

He got the impression they were smiling, despite their lack of face.

“Call me what you wish, child. I have gone by many names over the centuries of my existence. Many call me The Aleney,”

“The Aleney?” Lance echoed lightly. “Okay, why are you here, Aleney?” It felt like he was meeting God—was he meeting God?

The wisps of light extended further, reaching out to him. It felt… calming, and Blue hadn’t reacted at all, so perhaps The Aleney truly was friendly.

“I have not met anyone along my travels in thousands of years, I was curious. You are but a babe to me, your species is younger than even my children and their children’s children. You come from beyond the Shattered Nebula. How Curious. Only one creature other than myself has ever been capable of making it past there, and their species is nearly gone now. How did you get here, my child? So far from where you belong…” The voice was soft, warm, and smooth like honey as it rolled carefully through his mind. It made sense, sound didn’t travel in Space, so the things living in it had to find other means of communication.

Lance frowned. “I… my friends and I are Paladins of Voltron. We’re fighting a war against the Galra Empire. Haggar… Zarkon’s witch sent me here, she hit me with some sort of magic, and now here I am… wherever here is…” he sighed, “I’m lost in the middle of Space, and I have no idea where my friends are, or how I’m going to get home…”

“A tragedy, my dear child. You are beyond the Shattered Nebula now, we are those lost to time. There is no escape, at least that I have found. Even I could not get out after I got in. I’m sorry.” Aleney was warm, her touch soothing, but Lance felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice on him at that revelation.

“What do you mean? Are you saying I’m stuck here?!”

“Perhaps not, young one. _I_ have not been able to escape, but you are an oddity to me. Perhaps you have a chance, but beware, many have perished trying.” Again, he sensed they were smiling and felt himself calm slightly.

“Now, I must be on my way. I wish you safe travels, Blue Paladin. Most of this sector of Space is barren, without planets and debris, the nearest is quite far to the East. You will be able to replenish your food and water stores, then, continue South from there, and you will find the nearest planet with civilization. Be careful, in the fragmented Space hides many dangers, some of which you would call Eldritch. Now go, and sleep not without a planet's ground beneath your feet, or you might find yourself lost for eternity. Not every being out here is as nice as I.”

Then, Aleney was gone, just like that…

Lance swallowed thickly, trying to regain his senses. It felt weird having a presence in your mind leave so suddenly. He pulled himself back towards Blue’s airlock, casting wary glances around him as he did so.

Lance might not have been the smartest person on his team, but he wasn’t stupid, and he wasn’t about to discount a warning like that.

Blue rumbled her agreement through the bond.

Settling down into the cockpit was a welcome relief. Warmth seeped back into his bones, though there was still a lingering chill, and there was no judgment from Blue when he grabbed one of the spare blankets and curled it around himself in the Pilot’s chair. He set the course for East, and kicked Blue into gear.

Aleney didn’t exactly tell him how far he had to go before he actually hit the nearest planet, so until then he would just cruise along smoothly. He didn’t want to wear his poor girl out before they got there, in case she was needed, or there were some hostile lifeforms, so they were going fast, but not full speed.

“Alright, girl,” Lance said, “we’re gonna make it to that planet, restock our supplies, then we’ll head to the next one with an actual civilization and try to figure out how to get home, okay? I know we can do it, Blue.”

He was decidedly not trying to think about the fact that he was trapped in whatever the fuck the fractured Space was, and that even Aleney couldn’t get out of here, or that his friends didn’t even know where he was and probably thought that he was dead.

Nope. Not thinking about that at all.

The soft purring rumble echoing through his mind grew louder as Blue tried to fill the silence. She was the best Lion a guy could ask for, and he was thankful she had chosen him. She was definitely the calmest of the five, that much he could feel through their bond with the other Paladins’ and their Lions. She was always there in the back of his mind, purring, soothing. Her presence was cool like the oceans of Cuba, Blue just felt like home.

“Thanks, Blue,” he murmured, running his hand lightly over the control panel.

He could still feel the other Paladins, and it was a welcome relief, to be honest. He had always been the closest to their bond, probably because he reveled in it, Lance was used to being around people, and being connected to the Paladin bond helped him feel comfortable even when he was alone in the middle of Space, so far from his family, his home.

Wherever Hunk was, he was focused, probably working on some new invention, or creating a new recipe. Pidge was asleep, she’d probably fallen asleep at her desk or something. Shiro was deep in thought, but Lance had never been able to get much of a reading from Shiro, so he wasn’t surprised he couldn’t feel any specific emotions. Keith, well, Keith was angry, nothing new there. The mullet was usually radiating feelings of anger or annoyance, it permeated the bond constantly—though, it certainly wasn’t the only emotion he felt.

Lance smiled softly, it was good to feel close to his team, no matter how far away they really were.

The other Lions were very muffled, to the point where he couldn’t even feel their emotions, but they were there nonetheless.

Lance leaned back in his chair, he could feel the beginning of exhaustion heavy on the back of his eyelids. He had been warned not to sleep, but how bad could it be to catch just a few minutes? He had a head injury, after all. 

Blue’s answering growl was warning enough.

“Woah, okay Girl,” he threw his arms up in a placating gesture, “no sleep then, okay, I can take a hint.” He leaned forward in his chair, tugging the blanket with him, and eased Blue a little faster. “What kinds of things are out here that means I can’t sleep?”

As if Fate itself was answering, Lance leaned forward, squinting as he made out the slight form of something shimmering in the middle of Space.

Now, Space didn’t shimmer; the darkness was like ink, it was all-consuming, but apparently, this part did, because it was shiny, more like a car, freshly painted black, with the sun gleaming down upon it. It didn’t move as they approached it, just remained still. 

It wasn’t living, it was just… Space…

Blue, however, thought that was cause to worry, because she roared (despite no sound traveling in Space, it definitely traveled in the thin confines of the cockpit, ouch) and jerked into action, breaking their earlier, smooth glide. She flew up, her boosters sending blue blasts of flame all around, then she jerked left, banked right-

Lance was being thrown about very easily, only his grip on her kept him from hitting the wall with his head, _again._

“Blue! Calm down!” He shouted, eyes wide.

While her usual smooth movements were now rough due to her lack of pilot, she was still somehow graceful as she whipped herself through Space, avoiding the small patches of shimmering.

“Mierda- ah, mi querido, what’s wrong?!”

Images flashed through his mind, them, being pulled and folded in millions of different directions their bodies were not meant to, endless, impossible to escape.

“Is that the fucking Space equivalent of a hypercube?”

She evened out, faster than he had previously set her speed out, but honestly? Lance wasn’t about to start complaining…

Yeah, okay, maybe sleep wasn’t exactly a very good idea then.

Lance was exhausted. There was no sense of time in this place—the only thing they’d seen at all was more hypercubes, which were just terrifying. Blue was now moving at full speed, and if they didn’t have amazing navigation systems he would have thought they were going in the wrong direction.

How long had they been traveling? Hours? Days? It sounded stupid, but Lance honestly couldn’t tell anymore. There was _nothing_ out there, nothing except for brief flashes of movement he caught in the corner of his eye, brief flashes of movement that sent a wave of anxiety through him, and sparked him to try and push Blue faster. He was fucking terrified, and now his eyes were growing so used to the sight of blank darkness around him that he was beginning to nearly miss the telltale shininess of the hypercubes, and sometimes it was only Blue moving away in time that saved them from the fate of being trapped. Pulled, twisted, folded endlessly… for all of eternity…

He missed his team.

He just wanted to go home… **  
**

Aleney hadn’t been kidding when she said eldritch, cause the only way to describe that thing was an abomination, a horror.

What the fuck- _WHAT THE FUCK!_

It was massive, bigger than even the Castle, with long, writhing tentacles, nearly as dark as the space around it, and each one was lined with long, gleaming fangs sharp enough to cut through steel. It turned it's sights on them, opening wide a mouth with the same teeth, and it’s jaw rolled free like a fricking carpet, revealing more and more fucking fangs with each second.

“Holy mother of-” Lance dragged Blue to the side, all exhaustion gone at the sight of that… that _thing!_

It was slow, thank fuck it was slow, but dodging all of those tentacles was hell, he dipped and ducked and twirled to avoid them, but more and more kept appearing before him until he didn’t even remember which way was out anymore.

His heart was racing a mile-a-minute, adrenaline coursing through his veins until he swore there was more of it than blood in his system. His breath was short, sharp.

This thing somehow managed to activate every single fight or flight response in his body, and all of them were in flight—with good reason.

He didn’t even think to shoot it, fear was clouding his mind until all he could think about was fucking run-MOVE- _GET AWAY FROM THAT THING!_

Lance screamed, right before him was the thing's mouth, maw gaping and prepared to swallow them whole. It had used the tentacles to guide them to their death, there was no escaping this fucking thing-

 _They were dead, so fucking dead._ **  
**

Keith felt fear. He didn’t know why, there was no reason to, he was alone in the Catleship, sitting in his room, staring at his blade, but he felt fear. He rubbed the back of his neck to get rid of the goosebumps, glancing around himself nervously. Why was he scared?

He stood, pulling on his jacket, trying to fight the urge to keep glancing behind him, and made his way out to look for the others.

The only reason he could think of as to why he was so scared all of a sudden, was that one of the others was scared like that too.

That’s when it hit him…

_Lance._

“Shiro!” He dashed through the bleached halls frantically, eyes wide. If Lance was this scared, it meant he was alive at the very least, but it also meant that he was in danger.

What if the Galra had him?

What if they were torturing him?

“Shiro!” Keith burst through the automatic doors to his room, which hadn’t even the time to open fully for him, skidding to a halt. Shiro jumped, clearly startled, and the panic in his eyes was evident. 

“Keith? Did you need-”

“You feel it too.” Usually, he would feel bad about interrupting the man he considered his brother, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care when Lance’s life was potentially on the line. First, Shiro looked confused and startled, then his expression melted into understanding.

“One of the others?” He asked.

Keith nodded, “I’m thinking Lance,” he said darkly, watching Shiro’s face harden into seriousness.

“Go get the others, meet me in the bridge. I’ll grab Allura and Coran.” Shiro took off immediately. They split off in the halls, each taking their own direction.

Thankfully, Hunk and Pidge were together, with both already seeming to know what was up, and soon the entire team was gathered in the bridge, glancing around at each other anxiously, waiting for someone to speak.

“What is the meaning of this?” Allura asked in that tone of voice that indicated she already had a feeling of what was about to be said.

“Lance is alive,” Pidge blurted, “he’s alive and right now he’s so scared that it’s affecting all of us. We have to restart and double the searches looking for Lance.”

Allura shot her a pitying look, sharp features pulled into a deep frown. She looked more tired than Keith had ever seen her, with darkened shadows beneath her eyes, and her usually pristine, snowy hair was slightly messy. “Pidge,” Allura said softly, “we don’t have the resources to begin searching, let alone to double them. Many of our allies need their men elsewhere, and we cannot bring more into our efforts without spreading panic. There’s nothing we can do—my hands are tied. I’m sorry.”

“Bullshit.” Allura whirled around to face Keith, with his fists clenched and shaking. “You can do plenty—you’re just choosing not to. I’m going to look for Lance.”

“Me too.”

“Don’t forget about me.”

“I’m going too.”

Hands grappling at any buttons he could. A flash of light that burned at his retina’s. A growl, louder than anything he’d ever heard in his life.

Ice formed, it crawled its way through the monster's throat, spreading swirling patterns of frost that looked eerily beautiful despite the danger it proposed.

The monster screeched, something he still somehow heard, despite sound not traveling in Space, and it yanked away faster than he could process what was happening.

Blue roared again, forcing them out of the tentacles grip, and away from the monster, which curled up and retreated in on itself, pained.

Freedom, safety.

Lance laughed, it bubbled up and out of his throat before he could stop it. His hands scrabbled at his chest, feeling the harsh pounding of his heart as they sped away from what he’d been certain was his death.

“Thanks, Blue, couldn’t have done it without you. I owe you _so_ many polishes and paint jobs for that.” He ran a hand over the control panel, listening to the soft purr she emitted in the hopes that it would calm his racing heart. “I’ll never doubt ancient, glowing beings from Space _ever_ again. I’m not sleeping until we get to the next planet.”

Lance pressed Blue to her maximum speed, starting up a low whistle to keep himself occupied.

Now, this time Lance knew they’d been traveling for days, he was starting to need a shower, and only fear of running into another one of those monsters kept him from using the one in Blue. He’d eaten for the first time since he’d gotten stuck in Space. He didn’t know how far away that planet was, and if he was gonna be awake the whole trip he would have to pace how much he ate. Aleney made it seem like the next planet was only a day's journey, but Lance knew it took him at least three days to get like this, so he had his timeframe right there. Who knew how long it would take him to get there, and he only had enough food for a month, but he could stretch it majorly if he ate once every three days instead of once every 2 days like he was meant to. He also finally remembered that Blue had a clock that could keep the date well enough, so he would use that to keep track of when he ate.

So far he’d sung every song he knew multiple times, made a crossbow out of some spare elastics and pencils, and settled for slapping himself a few times, all to keep awake. It was boring as hell, and far too quiet, but it was better than being dead.

Lance nearly screamed with joy when the planet came into view. It was glorious, a gentle blue-green as far as he could see. It didn’t have oceans, but there were many lakes and rivers, and it looked ripe with life. He slowed down to enter the atmosphere, landing himself in a clearing next to a river, and started scanning whether it was safe for him.

He was bouncing on his heels, and he could feel Blue’s excitement right with him.

In a few moments, it came back positive, meaning he was safe. He grabbed the scanner Hunk had made ages ago that identified whether food and water were safe for humans to ingest, and stepped outside.

It was colder than he was used to, but Lance didn’t mind a little chill as he stepped out into the fresh air. He grinned, unable to help himself at the feeling of cool wind on his face, and let out a little laugh. He dropped to his knees, burying his hands in the long, thick grass. It was different from Earth’s, rougher, coarser, but it felt nice enough to hold regardless.

He laughed, it had been so long since he’d felt grass so similar to Earth’s, and being on solid ground after more than a week alone in Space—with only the briefest lapses of sleep—was absolutely _amazing!_

“We did it Blue! Now I can finally _sleep!_ We can get more supplies in the morning, the first thing I’m doing is passing out and nothing can stop me right now, not even an entire Galra fleet. Don’t wake me up unless you have to, mi querido.”

Lance McClain promptly walked back into his Lion, and fell asleep in one of the bunks, curled up with a mess of blankets.

He didn’t wake up the next morning, or that afternoon either, or that night. He slept a full day and a half, exhausted from travels.


End file.
